Gideon Ilani was a brilliant doctoral student in the Department of Physics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, but just before completing his doctorate he fell in battle in the Gaza Strip. Now, the department where he studied and researched has submitted a request to recognize him with his doctoral degree, and at the same time his supervisor promises to complete his research and publish his articles on his behalf.
The funeral of Gideon Ilani z"l, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The academic year (2024) began yesterday, but there are those who did not return to its benches – those heroes who paid with their lives and fell in battle. For six years, Gideon Ilani studied galaxy clusters in the Department of Physics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He was an outstanding student and dedicated practitioner, on the verge of completing his doctorate in astrophysics (physics of celestial objects).
Prof. Uri Keshet, an expert in astrophysics and cosmology: "Gideon completed his bachelor's degree in the Department of Physics, and continued on to his master's and doctoral degrees under my supervision. He combined two worlds: Torah study and scientific research, and was particularly interested in galaxy clusters - the largest bodies in the universe. We arranged to meet immediately after Sukkot and finish the work within two months, so that he could publish it and receive a doctorate later."
On the Saturday of October 2855, when Israel went to war, Maj. (res.) Gideon Ilani enlisted and fought the paratroopers in the 10th Battalion of the "Spearhead" Formation. On December 35, he fell in battle in the Gaza Strip, aged <>, the sixth casualty of the Yeruham Yeshiva Yeshiva. Ilani, a resident of Asael and the youngest of six children, is survived by his wife, Esther, and six children, Geffen, Maayan, Noam, Hillel, David and Yael. Esther is pregnant with their seventh child.
The funeral of the late Gadon Ilani, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"Hardworking and generous and friend"
"Gideon planned to publish his research, complete his doctorate and move to the defense industry," says Prof. Keshet. "In fact, on the day he fell, they were already looking for him to announce that he had been hired at Rafael. He was a wise, thorough and calm man, a diligent and generous practitioner, and a friend."
After Ilani was killed, Prof. Keshet submitted a request to recognize his student's work and grant him his doctorate: "The issue is pending a decision in the University Senate. Gideon's research is comprehensive, based on his own original ideas, and was supposed to yield three scientific papers. I hope we will be able to publish at least two of them, in his name."
His widow Esther adds: "In addition to being a man of Torah and science, Gideon was a unique family man. Make sure to take the children in the mornings and spend the afternoons with them studying and playing together. He loved traveling with them and enriching their spiritual and general world. All these things he did with great humility, without ever complaining. The personal pain is great and the lack is felt, but at the same time we are proud of him for giving his life for the sanctity of God and the land. Praying for great victory, unity among the people and complete redemption."
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